Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live On NY1’s “Mornings On 1”

April 25, 2024

Pat Kiernan: Mayor Adams with me now to talk more about this. Good morning Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Eric Adams: Good morning. How are you? Good to see you.

Kiernan: I am well. I felt like you got a glimmer of enthusiasm from the City Council Speaker in that statement yesterday. Are you optimistic that there's some common ground to be building on here?

Mayor Adams: Yes, without a doubt. The speaker and I, we were able to get two handshakes on two budgets. We're going to do it again on the third budget. We're required by law to balance our budget and we're excited about how well the economy is doing and how well we were able to bring down asylum seeker costs as including the population.

Kiernan: Solet's talk about that because it's a great headline to be able to say that you've dialed those costs back by 30 percent. Still, if you look over the next couple of years, two billion dollars roughly. What are the next steps here either in terms of securing funding or maybe just getting to the heart of the problem and having fewer services that you need to offer?

Mayor Adams: We have to look at all three roads. Not one road is going to get us to the destination that we want. We're going to continue to ask Washington to do its part. The hundred and somewhat millions dollars that we're getting is nowhere near the multi-billion dollar cost of this.

We spent over four billion dollars already but we were on the road also. We knew by putting a 30-day program in place for single adults, we were able to get 65 percent of those go on to the next steps of the journey and then we're going to bring down the cost. When you're dealing with any emergency situation, the costs are typically high and now we're bringing down that cost as the emergency is coming to a level of permanency in our city.

Kiernan: Let's move on tolibraries which it seems like every budget there is consternation over the libraries so you've got a lot of negative press over this. If the financial outlook has improved, why not make it a priority to get some money back and in particular get those Sunday hours back? Is it really appropriate for libraries to use their endowments for this as you suggested?

Mayor Adams: No what I suggest and will continue to suggest is all of us are dealing with the financial crises that not only the asylum seeker issue but also we have to be sure about paying outstanding union contracts and other issues that cause some real financial concerns. This is part of the budget process we're looking forward to sitting down with the speaker and her team. I'm a strong believer in libraries. I used them often as a child and we're going to come to a middle ground and understanding on how to move forward on this.

Kiernan:I know you havedaily dialogue with leadership at the NYPD. What were they able to say to you or had you already made up your mind that if you got your hands on more money that some of it would go back into the NYPD to get those police recruits into class?

Mayor Adams: The number one thing as I move through the city is, Eric keep doing what you're doing to drive down crime. We were able to look at in January 1st 2022 crime was surging at 40 percent increase.

We're now decreasing the five of the major seven crime categories. We see double digit decrease in shootings and homicides and we saw at the beginning of the year in January there was an uptick in crime in our subway system. We surge cops in February. We saw a decrease in February double digit decrease in March double digits. We know that the presence of a uniformed personnel can make the city not only be safe based on the stats but feel safe as well. That's why I'm happy that we got to July and October classes back in to get our numbers up where they should be.

Kiernan: Is that in some ways an admission that the NYPD is understaffed right now? Have you got a problem either now or in the immediate future as you look at cops who might be retiring?

Mayor Adams: Pat that's a great question. When you do an examination of all of our law enforcement agencies, Department of Correction, is that a critical code red? We need correction officers, Department of Probation, School Safety Agents, New York City Police Department.

These fields which are promising careers, they were not being paid the salary they deserved. That's why we went in and settled 100 percent of our uniform contracts. What you're saying is so important and all big cities must take an examination that you're losing the foundation of your public safety apparatus and we're going to continue to encourage men and women to join our Police Department. But yes, we need the numbers in.

Kiernan: I want to switch to these protests at Columbia in particular but also at NYU. You've made it clear that the NYPD will intervene at the invitation of university administrators. What do you think the ideal solution here is? Will something be negotiated?

Mayor Adams: It's a multi-pronged attack again. many of these complicated conversations and activities people think there's a level of simplicity to it and it's not. Because there there's pain on both sides and all around on this issue.

But what we must do is ensure that we do not create a place of violence. We have communicated with our colleges and we're going to have a meeting with all of our colleges throughout the city. One of this, you have a constitutional right to protest, but you do not have a right to be disruptive to throw bottles at police officers and do some of the other activities.

I believe that there are outside agitators that they come into the city during all of these demonstrations. We saw them during the Black Lives Matter marches as well. The colleges must invite us in on campus and take action like we did on Columbia University. The college must be very clear on what they expect from their students. The Police Department is going to serve their role when we're asked to come in to ensure no violation of a law. The Police Department is going to come in and execute a plan using the minimum amount of force. Because the goal is not to hurt people but to make sure that rules and regulations are followed.

Kiernan: But if you're asked you'll clear it out?

Mayor Adams: Yes. As we did previously on Columbia University, we are communicating with the president. She will see and determine the proper time because that's private. Those are private grounds. We cannot just go on private grounds. We must- unless there's imminent threat of course- but the president will have to reach out to us and tell us so we can coordinate and execute together.

I'm disgusted by some of the terminologies that we're hearing. To hear students chant that they are Hamas and Hamas should continue doing what they're doing. Hamas is a murderous terrorist organization that must be destroyed. We want to stop the violence on all sides of this issue but we have to be clear the hostages have to be returned. Not only were Americans killed but Muslims were killed, Jews were killed, Christians were killed and some of them are still in captivity.

Kiernan: I want to go back to some recent Albany history when Kathy Hochul was trying to get Hector LaSalle in as her judicial pick and the legislature had said we don't like this guy and she moved ahead with it and it just it delayed everything.

I wonder with Randy Mastro if you try to move in that direction for the top city attorney's job, is this resistance from the council just going to drag this out and nobody's going to get what they want here?

Mayor Adams: No you know I spoke with the speaker and we both agree this is the process oftentimes people look at when these moments come about when you are debating budgets, when you are debating appointments, the system is put in place so we can have checks and balances. We welcome whatever system we put in place for whatever appointee we put forward.

The two of us agree people highlight those areas where we discuss and debate but we are doing some great work together and I think a New Yorker should be proud how we allowed this economy to recover, allowed us to be safer as a city and we have more private jobs in the history of the city. She has been a partner and I thank her for her partnership and her members in the council.

Kiernan: I have on the screen that Randy's a potential candidate for the job. Can I change that yet? Is it still potential?

Mayor Adams: Until [an] announcement is made and that letter goes over to the City Council for the vetting process, everything stays a potential.

Kiernan: Is the letter written yet?

Mayor Adams: We are excited. Randy has a lot to offer when you look at his credentials. He has clearly been a great New Yorker and I said to everyone I think it's a slippery slope when you judge a lawyer based on how he carries out his responsibility of representing people.

This is a city of due process. Even people who commit serious crimes are allowed to have an attorney and you do not accuse an attorney based on their actions of representing their clients.

Kiernan: Mayor Adams, thank your city for spending some time with us this morning. We appreciate it as always.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Take care.

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